Radar footage released of ship suspected of colliding with missing businessman's yacht: Notable maneuvers
Radar movements have emerged of a dry cargo ship suspected of colliding with the shattered yacht of a businessman who went missing off the coast of Marmara Island in Balıkesir. The footage shows the ship, which had departed from Çanakkale, performing backward maneuvers while passing through the area where the wreckage was found.
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Search operations continue for Halit Yukay, a well-known businessman and owner of the yacht named 'Graywof', which was found shattered off the coast of Marmara Island.
Regarding the incident, the captain of a dry cargo ship in Yalova, identified as C.T., was detained on suspicion of 'causing death by negligence' and was later released by the court under judicial control conditions.
In his statement, the captain of the ship named Arel 7, which was determined to have passed through the accident zone at the time of the incident, said, "Normally, the assistant is by the captain's side. At that time, they had gone down for a meal. We had passed Marmara Island. He had gone down for a meal around 17:00. My shift had started at 16:30.
M.S. was with me as a lookout. Then they went down for a meal. They went down for a meal at 17:00. I had spoken with the company. Then, suddenly, I felt a jolt; I couldn't make sense of it. I looked and saw two pieces in front of me, on my right and left. I saw them as pieces of wood. I passed through the middle, but after moving forward a bit, I turned the ship around. Because my conscience wasn't at ease. At that moment, I saw a lifebuoy. I didn't understand what the pieces of wood I saw on my right and left were. When I realized it had nothing to do with me, I continued on my way.
After some time passed, I called the company official. I explained the situation. Then I said it had nothing to do with us. I said I am continuing on my way. Normally, when encountering such a situation, the Coast Guard is informed. But I couldn't think with the psychology I was in at that moment. There were 2-3 ships in front of me as well. Since it was in the middle of the sea and appeared abandoned, I didn't think it had anything to do with us; I didn't see or suspect it was a boat. There was no collision. We would have definitely understood and heard the sound," he said.
On the other hand, it was learned that traces of the yacht, which was shattered in the accident, were found on the Arel 7 ship.
SHIP RETURNED TO THE ACCIDENT SITE AND THEN CONTINUED
Regarding the accident that occurred on August 4, 2025, Marine Traffic footage, which shows the real-time locations of ships and yachts around the world, shows the dry cargo ship named 'Arel 7', which set off from Çanakkale, performing a reverse maneuver while sailing off the coast of Marmara Island, consistent with the suspect's statement, and then sailing towards the coast of Yalova. It was determined in the footage that the ship later anchored off the coast of Çiftlikköy district.
Meanwhile, it was alleged that Halit Yukay, for whom search operations have been ongoing at sea for 3 days, was on his way to Athens to pick up his Greek-origin wife and child, and that he had previously traveled to the same region several times with his own yacht.